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Fodera Club Part XVI

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#781
Steveman said:
Since we're on the topic of Brazilian Rosewood, does anybody have any experience (or know of anybody that does) travelling out of the country with it? I've read that you can get your bass confiscated if you don't have proper import documents when crossing the boarder. Does anybody know what AJ does with his presentation?
Click to expand...

US Customs has NO AUTHORITY in taking away an instrument due to the woods used....ONLY US FISH and WILDLIFE can do this. Just an FYI. Internationally it can cause problems, that is why some builders will not ship lets say Brazilian Rosewood FB out of the country, just too many headaches. I cant answer your question as to what AJ does, my sincere apologies for that.
 
#782
Steveman said:
Since we're on the topic of Brazilian Rosewood, does anybody have any experience (or know of anybody that does) travelling out of the country with it? I've read that you can get your bass confiscated if you don't have proper import documents when crossing the boarder. Does anybody know what AJ does with his presentation?
Click to expand...

Braz is not a good choice if you plan on taking your bass across borders. US F&W doesn't seem to be seizing people's personal instruments right now, but that doesn't mean they won't start when some future administration tries to look like it cares about CITES. Also, getting past the US side doesn't mean that your bass won't get grabbed by Canada or wherever you're going, again, depending on the philosophy in place in your destination country.

Kudos to Vinny and the guys for only using CITES certified BR (IIRC), but at the end of the day, it's an extremely unsustainable choice in a world that's going the other way. What may be fine today may be totally verboten tomorrow.
 
#784
roadkill2309 said:
Braz is not a good choice if you plan on taking your bass across borders. US F&W doesn't seem to be seizing people's personal instruments right now, but that doesn't mean they won't start when some future administration tries to look like it cares about CITES. Also, getting past the US side doesn't mean that your bass won't get grabbed by Canada or wherever you're going, again, depending on the philosophy in place in your destination country.

Kudos to Vinny and the guys for only using CITES certified BR (IIRC), but at the end of the day, it's an extremely unsustainable choice in a world that's going the other way. What may be fine today may be totally verboten tomorrow.
Click to expand...

the german customs will kill you when they find sth. like that on a Bass. There had been szenarios where the customs came on the stage and took away the musicians instrument in the middle of the gig in the past.
 
#786
ursusaltered said:
My first experience wit Fodera, was a 1984 monarch that I had received from Garey. The same thing happened to me. It was so effortless that it almost felt like I was playing air bass! I could do techniques on that bass that I couldn't do on any basses which preceded it. 4 foderas later. I am still blown away at the playability, tone, craftsmanship, and the attention to detail. I have a new 33" scale monarch due to be completed in march or April. And I am so excited!
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Absolutely agree. Everything about Fodera comes in equal measure; playability, tone, looks + fit & finish. The bad thing is that we always drool at how good the next bass outta the shop looks and if you own/owned or played a few, you know that once the specs appeal to you, that bass would be a treat to play..

Hope you and all the Fodera clubbers had a good holiday & here's to lot more drooling in 2013.
 
#788
Lennard III. said:
the german customs will kill you when they find sth. like that on a Bass. There had been szenarios where the customs came on the stage and took away the musicians instrument in the middle of the gig in the past.
Click to expand...

Steveman said:
Since we're on the topic of Brazilian Rosewood, does anybody have any experience (or know of anybody that does) travelling out of the country with it? I've read that you can get your bass confiscated if you don't have proper import documents when crossing the boarder. Does anybody know what AJ does with his presentation?
Click to expand...

It all depends how the destination country implemented the CITES regulations and standards. All EU countries unified their implementation per 1984. And since 1992 Brazilian Rosewood is explicitely banned by CITES as one of the endangered species. Since then it is forbidden in EU to import and export any goods with that wood - NO MATTER WHEN THE TREE HAS BEEN CUT ! Don't know whether this applies to Canada or Mexico too but I'm sure they all implement the CITES standards in this or either way.

Only exception is when you have CITES documents with the bass that certifies the woods as legally taken out of the nature. These docs have to be provided by the manufacturer. In EU you are not allowed to deal or commercially expose your instruments (even on a gig !) without these documents. But if you have them with your Fodera - no problem.

Please note: Braz RW is only the beginning. There are other woods in observation and they will surely be added to CITES very soon: Ebony, Cocobolo or Mahogany from certain origin are only a few. So it is reasonable to get the current CITES infos when purchasing a guitar from foreign lands ...

This all is not new ... but the customs world-wide increase their attention.
 
#789
I caught the late set tonight of Mike Stern, AJ, Dave Weckl and Randy Brecker at Iridium. Great ideas and interplay all around. Mike tore it up (within a set of mostly his original tunes), and Anthony had some great solo spots. The club's PA has, to my ears, some strange gaps in the low mids and isn't entirely capable of doing justice to the full range of AJ's Presentation model, but his ideas were great as always. They're at the club through New Year's Eve, if anyone's interested in checking them out.
 
#790
It is very possible that this last batch of CITES Brazilian that we were able to source two years ago will indeed be our last. The cost keeps going up, quality keeps going down and, as you said, it is totally unsustainable. Heck, I drive a Volt, so I am completely onboard with trying to minimize our collective footprint on the planet...

J

roadkill2309 said:
Braz is not a good choice if you plan on taking your bass across borders. US F&W doesn't seem to be seizing people's personal instruments right now, but that doesn't mean they won't start when some future administration tries to look like it cares about CITES. Also, getting past the US side doesn't mean that your bass won't get grabbed by Canada or wherever you're going, again, depending on the philosophy in place in your destination country.

Kudos to Vinny and the guys for only using CITES certified BR (IIRC), but at the end of the day, it's an extremely unsustainable choice in a world that's going the other way. What may be fine today may be totally verboten tomorrow.
Click to expand...
 
#791
Only our 6-string dual coils have a single pole piece for the C-string. The reason is because it sounds better. The next logical question is, "why do we use two pole pieces for the C on the 5-string PUPs (for E-C instruments) and that is because the sonic benefit of the single pole piece is fairly minor when compared to the logistical issue of needing to stock an entirely different sets of 5-string pickups (for multiple different string spacings) and the fact that many folks go back and forth between E-C and B-G on their 5ers throughout their lives together.

I hope that makes sense!

J


Hou said:
Jason - Can you explain why some pickups have one or two poles under the C string?
Click to expand...
 
#794
mrbassman_de said:
It all depends how the destination country implemented the CITES regulations and standards. All EU countries unified their implementation per 1984. And since 1992 Brazilian Rosewood is explicitely banned by CITES as one of the endangered species. Since then it is forbidden in EU to import and export any goods with that wood - NO MATTER WHEN THE TREE HAS BEEN CUT ! Don't know whether this applies to Canada or Mexico too but I'm sure they all implement the CITES standards in this or either way.

Only exception is when you have CITES documents with the bass that certifies the woods as legally taken out of the nature. These docs have to be provided by the manufacturer. In EU you are not allowed to deal or commercially expose your instruments (even on a gig !) without these documents. But if you have them with your Fodera - no problem.

Please note: Braz RW is only the beginning. There are other woods in observation and they will surely be added to CITES very soon: Ebony, Cocobolo or Mahogany from certain origin are only a few. So it is reasonable to get the current CITES infos when purchasing a guitar from foreign lands ...

This all is not new ... but the customs world-wide increase their attention.
Click to expand...


What you can do if you don't have the CITES documents? I have two basses with BR, but I don't know how obtain this documents.

My basses are a 65' jazz bass and a Fodera Emperor...
 
#797
joe vegas said:
I caught the late set tonight of Mike Stern, AJ, Dave Weckl and Randy Brecker at Iridium.
Click to expand...

Seeing them tonight, early set, then maybe staying for the late. It's a New Year's tradition for us. We've been fortunate to see Mike many times over the years, with pretty much all of the Fodera bassists - Bona, Kennedy, Jackson, Goines, McBride (on upright). Also have seen him with Ron Carter and Pattitucci. Mike's shows are always worth the trip.
 
#798
Just Thumpin' said:
It is very possible that this last batch of CITES Brazilian that we were able to source two years ago will indeed be our last. The cost keeps going up, quality keeps going down and, as you said, it is totally unsustainable. Heck, I drive a Volt, so I am completely onboard with trying to minimize our collective footprint on the planet...

J
Click to expand...

You drive a Volt? We're 98.9% certain that our next car will be a Prius V, but I keep taking a second look at those Volts when they swoop by.

I may drop you a PM about your ride when work settles down a bit.

Just Thumpin' said:
The next logical question is, "why do we use two pole pieces for the C on the 5-string PUPs (for E-C instruments) and that is because the sonic benefit of the single pole piece is fairly minor when compared to the logistical issue of needing to stock an entirely different sets of 5-string pickups (for multiple different string spacings) and the fact that many folks go back and forth between E-C and B-G on their 5ers throughout their lives together.
Click to expand...

So the benefit only really happens with a high C? Interesting. I love the look of the single on the end there. But then, I love Fender's asymmetrical 5-string P pup, so uh... you know...

mrbassman_de said:
Please note: Braz RW is only the beginning. There are other woods in observation and they will surely be added to CITES very soon: Ebony, Cocobolo or Mahogany from certain origin are only a few. So it is reasonable to get the current CITES infos when purchasing a guitar from foreign lands ...
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm worried about this as well; the fretboard on my Sadowsky NYC is Madagascar rosewood. I feel kind of guilty about it, actually. I really should have looked more into what's happening in Madagascar before settling on that fretboard.
 
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